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Do you really want to delete project Meantime "MEAN IT."?

About me

Alex Lieven is an award-winning senior creative with over 25 years agency experience with a background in design and art direction. He uses creativity to solve problems and motivate people to do something special. As a result, his work has continued to improve and he now enjoys working amongst London's top agencies.
"You might not always get it right, the important thing is to keep trying to improve. As long as you do that, there ultimately is no limit to what you can achieve".
He has a deep understanding of nearly all marketing disciplines including brand advertising, direct marketing, social media, digital, shopper marketing and experiential but this doesn't mean he knows everything.
"I'm a strong believer in listening. When you listen properly, you learn and then you can apply".
Conceptually he believes “simple is best”.
"Over-complexity doesn't optimise opportunity. Not having the skills to simplify is often at the core of the problem the client is trying to solve".
In terms of industry experience, Alex has pretty much worked across them all, including FMCG, telecoms, drinks, entertainment and the sports sectors. He has won numerous awards and has recently been camping out at the door of Lürzer's Archive.
Away from it all, Alex is a passionate cyclist, traveler, husband, father of two gorgeous girls and lives in Surrey.
"Life doesn't get much better".

Work history

2017

Freelance Creative

Tennent's - Here To Serve
Tennent's Lager is Scotland's favourite drink - and perhaps its most loved brand. It is a true institution, so we thought it would be fun to present it like a public utility, serving the nation with helpful advice and information. Warning: contains words like "honkin" ("rubbish") and "taps aff" (used when you take your top off, in nice weather). We took full advantage of media, placing "free pens" outside a betting shop and having a huge building wrap up in time for a visit from Jeremy Corbyn.
I was brought onboard by Lucky Generals to design and art direct new typography for the 'Here to Serve' campaign. All the work was created in photoshop and designed to be are fully editable. This was to allow the work to be supplied to agency partners to generate their own campaign lines.
Chain Reaction - Currently working on rebranding the online retailer.

2016

Freelance Creative

Meantime has pioneered the British craft beer movement since 1999. In a bold step up from previous campaigns, Above+Beyond had won a strategic pitch and now needed to show Meantime really does MEAN IT, in a campaign that remained true to the brewer’s founding belief that good beer comes from going the extra mile and doing things properly. My challenge was to give a visual language for this first outdoor campaign, a call to arms, an announcement for it's political manifesto.
The MEAN IT message was spread across key areas of London in a month-long campaign of authorised fly-postering and strategic takeovers of out-of-home sites including an iconic mural on Shoreditch High Street with illustrations of Meantime’s beers, complete with a tagline that expresses the brewer’s belief that if you’re going to bother having a beer, have a proper beer.
The campaign will continue into 2017 with nationwide activity across outdoor media, digital, PR and social.

2017

Freelance Creative

I was brought onboard to work on Vodafone TV, a new service delivering terrestrial TV, catch-up, films, all to your TV or on a tablet. I was brought on board to help develop and launch the new identity having previous experience with both telecoms and entertainment.
Our new identity engaged with customers more consistently and dynamically through a better-coordinated identity system. It offered customers an enriching experience on the Vodafone's TV platform through a dynamic expression of the Vodafone visual identity. Clear in-depth guidelines and templates were created for all our partner agencies to create synergy during the upcoming launch.

2015

Freelance Creative

In November last year, while working at Arthur, we pitched and won the opportunity to work with The Royal Horticultural Society. The RHS wished to align its Gardens and Membership communications and reflect their bold and confident vision ‘to enrich everyone’s life through plants, and make the UK a greener and more beautiful place’. The brief was to produce a new, singular campaign identity to work across all Membership and Gardens communications.
The objective was to inspire the public to visit RHS Gardens through beautiful and high impact identity that in turn would drive conversion to membership on site through hard working and clear messaging. The use of macro photography to capture close-up, evocative, natural beauty that reflects the inspirational moments that visitors to the RHS gardens will experience was key. Each image becomes the palette for a garden and therefore a strong branding device that’s routed in authenticity.
The campaign identity has since been flexed across a large variety of comms which will be displayed through onsite collateral as well as press ads and out of home advertising and has since been adapted to each of the RHS Gardens. The client said, "One of the best pieces of work any agency had ever produced for the RHS."

2015

Freelance Creative

Creating a new set of illustrations for the Financial Times.
Save the Children digital donation billboard was an idea to allow passers but to see themselves next to the children who their donation would be reaching through augmented reality. By texting the number they would make a small donation and appear next to the child on the screen.

2015

Freelance Creative

CHI & Partners is an amazing collection of people doing exceptional work. I feel privileged to have had the opportunity to be involved in the development of TalkTalk's new brand including guidelines, brand book, press, poster, and TV work. It has been an immense privilege.

2015

Freelance Creative

Working across brands for, Tate + Lyle, Panasonic, John Frieda, El Jimador, EAT and Southern Comfort, I delivered creative and design on advertising, film and typographic projects. Whether it was a gritty and authentic campaign for El Jimador, the number one selling tequila in Mexico or new visions for the company, recipes, menus for EAT creative expectations were always high.

2013

Freelance Creative

I've been working with Hypernaked (now Naked Communications) from 2011. Its been a wonderful opportunity to work with world-class brand & comms planners and produce culturally savvy digital creative in a modern comms age.

2010

Freelance Creative

John Smith’s Smithy the Horse
In 2010, I was brought into agency Space to pitch on Ale brand John Smith’s sponsorship of horse racing. The resulting campaign won multiple awards.
Heineken UK (then Scottish & Newcastle) Ale brand John Smith’s had a long-standing sponsorship of horse racing. However, now the brand wanted to make its long-standing involvement with the sport in a more relatable to the audience. My solution was simple – involve loyal drinkers in the sport they love by offering them a share in a real racehorse, called Smithy. The idea came from reading the clients brief which talked about how much they wished to return to John Smith’s ‘No Nonsense’ positioning. Result? Now, 10,000 people own a share in a No Nonsense racehorse.
Role : Art Direction & Copywriter
Awards:
IMC European Award, Innovative Idea or Concept – Bronze
IPM Award, Best Alcoholic Drinks Campaign – Gold
IPM Award, Best Trial & Awareness Campaign – Silver
MAA Best Award, Creative Sales Promotion Communications
MAA Best Award, Sales Promotion Led Campaign
MAAW Globe Award, Best Retail Key Account or
Channel Specific Campaign in The World – Gold

1990

BTEC Graphic Design

Falling off of piers while trying to get shots of girders, getting hyperthermia while sketching on the Norfolk Broads, learning to draw copy perfect typography had to make this one of the most amazing courses in the country.

Awards

2012

Bronze Award: IMC European Award, Innovative Idea or Concept

John Smith’s Smithy the Horse
Heineken UK (then Scottish & Newcastle) Ale brand John Smith’s had a long-standing sponsorship of horse racing. However, now the brand wanted to make its long-standing involvement with the sport in a more relatable to the audience. My solution was simple, involve loyal drinkers in the sport they love by offering them a share in a real racehorse, called Smithy. The idea came from reading the clients brief which talked about how much they wished to return to John Smith’s ‘No Nonsense’ positioning. Result? Now, 10,000 people own a share in a No Nonsense racehorse.

2012

MAA Best Awards, Best Sponsorship Led Campaign

John Smith’s Smithy the Horse
Heineken UK (then Scottish & Newcastle) Ale brand John Smith’s had a long-standing sponsorship of horse racing. However, now the brand wanted to make its long-standing involvement with the sport in a more relatable to the audience. My solution was simple, involve loyal drinkers in the sport they love by offering them a share in a real racehorse, called Smithy. The idea came from reading the clients brief which talked about how much they wished to return to John Smith’s ‘No Nonsense’ positioning. Result? Now, 10,000 people own a share in a No Nonsense racehorse.

2011

Gold Award: Best Commercial Partnership

Heineken & Who Wants To Be A Millionaire
Who Wants to be a Football Millionaire™
Heineken UK (then Scottish & Newcastle) wanted to associate itself with football at World Cup time, despite not being an official sponsor. Steam asked me to come in and help with the pitch while the Creative Director was on holiday. The idea came out of the realisation that during the World cup no activity would be as big as the tournament unless it was big already. So I turned the idea of a pub-quiz into the opportunity to play for up to £1m. The account team loved the idea as did Sony who were keen to demonstrate the flexibility of the ‘Who Wants to be a Millionaire?’ format and explore new revenue sources. And so ‘Who Wants to be a Football Millionaire?’ was born.
The activity challenged consumers to show their football knowledge for the chance to play for up to £1m. Consumers rang a phone line and entered promo codes from gamecards (on-trade) and promo packs (off-trade) to hear Chris Tarrant ask four questions: correct answers went into a draw. 20 people were randomly selected to play WWTBAFM? with Chris Tarrant at Elstree Studios. Heineken defended market share while Sony got extra revenue and is now developing other WWTBAM spin-offs.
http://creativeboom.co.uk/steam-celebrates-double-win-at-ipm-awards-/

2011

MAA Best Award, Creative Sales Promotion Communications

John Smith’s Smithy the Horse
Heineken UK (then Scottish & Newcastle) Ale brand John Smith’s had a long-standing sponsorship of horse racing. However, now the brand wanted to make its long-standing involvement with the sport in a more relatable to the audience. My solution was simple, involve loyal drinkers in the sport they love by offering them a share in a real racehorse, called Smithy. The idea came from reading the clients brief which talked about how much they wished to return to John Smith’s ‘No Nonsense’ positioning. Result? Now, 10,000 people own a share in a No Nonsense racehorse.

2011

Gold Award: Best Alcoholic Drinks Campaign

John Smith’s Smithy the Horse
Heineken UK (then Scottish & Newcastle) Ale brand John Smith’s had a long-standing sponsorship of horse racing. However, now the brand wanted to make its long-standing involvement with the sport in a more relatable to the audience. My solution was simple, involve loyal drinkers in the sport they love by offering them a share in a real racehorse, called Smithy. The idea came from reading the clients brief which talked about how much they wished to return to John Smith’s ‘No Nonsense’ positioning. Result? Now, 10,000 people own a share in a No Nonsense racehorse.

2011

MAA Best Award, Sales Promotion Led Campaign

John Smith’s Smithy the Horse
Heineken UK (then Scottish & Newcastle) Ale brand John Smith’s had a long-standing sponsorship of horse racing. However, now the brand wanted to make its long-standing involvement with the sport in a more relatable to the audience. My solution was simple, involve loyal drinkers in the sport they love by offering them a share in a real racehorse, called Smithy. The idea came from reading the clients brief which talked about how much they wished to return to John Smith’s ‘No Nonsense’ positioning. Result? Now, 10,000 people own a share in a No Nonsense racehorse.

2011

Silver Award: IPM Award, Best Trial & Awareness Campaign

John Smith’s Smithy the Horse
Heineken UK (then Scottish & Newcastle) Ale brand John Smith’s had a long-standing sponsorship of horse racing. However, now the brand wanted to make its long-standing involvement with the sport in a more relatable to the audience. My solution was simple, involve loyal drinkers in the sport they love by offering them a share in a real racehorse, called Smithy. The idea came from reading the clients brief which talked about how much they wished to return to John Smith’s ‘No Nonsense’ positioning. Result? Now, 10,000 people own a share in a No Nonsense racehorse.

2011

MAAW Gold Award: Best Retail Key Account or Channel Specific Campaign in The World

John Smith’s Smithy the Horse
Heineken UK (then Scottish & Newcastle) Ale brand John Smith’s had a long-standing sponsorship of horse racing. However, now the brand wanted to make its long-standing involvement with the sport in a more relatable to the audience. My solution was simple, involve loyal drinkers in the sport they love by offering them a share in a real racehorse, called Smithy. The idea came from reading the clients brief which talked about how much they wished to return to John Smith’s ‘No Nonsense’ positioning. Result? Now, 10,000 people own a share in a No Nonsense racehorse.

2011

Bronze Award: IMC European Award, Innovative Idea or Concept

John Smith’s Smithy the Horse
Heineken UK (then Scottish & Newcastle) Ale brand John Smith’s had a long-standing sponsorship of horse racing. However, now the brand wanted to make its long-standing involvement with the sport in a more relatable to the audience. My solution was simple, involve loyal drinkers in the sport they love by offering them a share in a real racehorse, called Smithy. The idea came from reading the clients brief which talked about how much they wished to return to John Smith’s ‘No Nonsense’ positioning. Result? Now, 10,000 people own a share in a No Nonsense racehorse.